MONTEGO BAY, St James — Thirty-five-year-old Leezo Wallace’s meteoric rise from an agent to general manager of the Jamaican operation of Unique Vacations Limited (UVL) should provide hope to the over 36,000 workers in the business processing outsourcing sector that the industry provides sound opportunities for hard-working and dedicated individuals.

UVL is a novel call centre which is the global representative for Sandals and Beaches resorts.

Wallace’s jump from the bottom to top position also highlights the myriad opportunities that Sandals Resorts International (SRI), one of the Caribbean’s largest private sector organisation employers of labour, offers to its over 15,000 employees.

According to Wallace, a native of Somerton, St James, upon completion of a course in food and beverage at HEART trust/NTA in Hanover, where he went after graduating from Muschett High School, he was asigned to the then Sandals Inn for work experience.

He became so attached to the hotel that following the completion of his three- month stint, he offered to work for free as there was no immediate opening at the resort at the time.

He was eventually placed on staff, first in the dining room, before moving to the bell desk then later to the bar. He moved from the bar to the front desk and later got promoted to an executive sales assistant position.

Then in 2004, when Sandals decided to open a call centre in Jamaica, Wallace decided to move over but was unsuccessful in the final examinations, failing to get the required 80 per cent pass mark. Undaunted, he returned to the hotel. but two years later, when an opening came up at the call centre, he grasped the opportunity with two wide open arms. He moved steadily up the ranks, from agent to the current general manager post he holds.

“I started as an agent and worked my way up to the team lead, then supervisor, then assistant manager, then manager for a department, then I got call centre manager, then eventually got promoted to general manager,” Wallace said, tracing his trajectory.

He is now in charge of running the over 15 departments of the Jamaica Unique Vacations call centre in Montego Bay, overseeing 250 staff members, including 18 managers.

Paul Mullings, senior director, call centre operations, UVL, noted that Wallace is a hard-working individual who provides inspiration to his staff.

“He’s somebody that has galvanised the Jamaica call centre to the point where it is the top-producing centre of our four locations, and he continues to move along the path and advance so that year in year out we continue as a company to advance by way of the calibre of employees that we are getting. He spends a lot of time individually with them [employees], motivating them, moulding them, giving them an understanding of what is out there, what is expected of them, and the potential for their improvement, their growth and their development,” Mullings noted.

Wallace argued that because of his journey he feels obligated to encourage his staff.

“I go into the training class and I tell them how I started and the opportunities that are here for them. I always take on some special cases because I always consider myself a special case,” said Wallace, a devout Christian.

“Hard work pays off, and a lot of people think there is no opportunity. Lucrative opportunities are out there but you have to be willing to put in the hard work and be humble; and I find even now a lot of the millennials they are so easy to give up.”

Wallace was speaking to the Jamaica Observer West after he was surprised with the Senior Director’s Award for Excellence at Unique Vacations’ Most Valuable Persons (MVP) Awards ceremony held at Sandals Ochi Beach Resorts Saturday night.

The awards were in three categories: MVP, Director’s Circle and Chairman’s Circle.

Employee of the Year 2018 went to Richard Somerville; Sharieka Vassel copped Supervisor of the Year 2018, while Deborah Lawrence walked away with the Manager of the Year 2018 award.

Adam Stewart, deputy chairman of Sandals Resorts International, thanked the workers for their service to the resort.

“I am glad to be here just to say thank you for such an awesome year that you gave the resort in 2018,” Stewart told the employees.